frustrated with offer process

FH and I have been looking for a house for a while and it seems like there is so much competition out there (lots of other first time homebuyers) that every house we seem to like we end up in bidding wars over! to the point where people are putting in offers well over the asking price! i'm just getting nervous that we won't find anything and if we do they'll be multiple offers on it did anyone else go through this process? any words of advice?

Re: frustrated with offer process

With home prices dropping drastically it has made it a lot easier for first time home buyers to afford a home. BUT financing is the next big thing people are having A LOT of trouble with. If there is a home you really really like, make sure your realtor keeps on top of it so that if the financing doesn't work out, you can swoop in and make an offer! It's a heartbreaking process. Good luck!

Re: frustrated with offer process

I started last june and went through the same thing! and I'm sure its still happening because the credit is due to expire again.

What i found that worked for us, was to not look at newly listed houses. I was so OVER the games and bidding wars, and what wasn't a bidding war already, the listing agents would cause drama with. It was such he!l for DH and I. We literally stopped looking at houses that were brand new to the market. if it didn't have an accepted offer after 30 days or so we would go look at it. worked out for us, we offered on a house that was exactly what we wanted and had been on the market 61 days.

I totally know what you are going through, I have stories like you can't imagine. FM if you need to, because I know how horrible it is! We were at the point that we were just going to rent a place until the credit ran out, that's how much we hated the process!!! hang in there it will work out

Re: frustrated with offer process

It is so frustrating and dissapointing! Just try to remember that whatever is ment to be! Try to really be on top of your market so you can try to get offers in first, and look for listings a little out of budget and watch for them to drop! Good luck~

Re: frustrated with offer process

thanks all... heather you are right with the new listings! i do browse mlsli.com and listingbook every day and it seems like with every new listing that i go see and like, there's so many other offers on it! and either that or people are still overpricing their houses too.. well we will see what happens, it seems like this tax credit deadline is working against my favor w/ all the competition... thanks for the words of encouragement all!

Re: frustrated with offer process

Posted by jenbill61210

thanks all... heather you are right with the new listings! i do browse mlsli.com and listingbook every day and it seems like with every new listing that i go see and like, there's so many other offers on it! and either that or people are still overpricing their houses too.. well we will see what happens, it seems like this tax credit deadline is working against my favor w/ all the competition... thanks for the words of encouragement all!

Re: frustrated with offer process

I could have written this. We are getting so discouraged. We sold our co-op so we can buy a house and now we're renting. We didn't realize how hard it would be to actually get a house! We just put a really strong offer on a house yesterday so we're keeping our fingers crossed. I don't know how much longer I can take this! Good luck to you, you are not alone

Re: frustrated with offer process

Posted by HeatherRose

Posted by jenbill61210

thanks all... heather you are right with the new listings! i do browse mlsli.com and listingbook every day and it seems like with every new listing that i go see and like, there's so many other offers on it! and either that or people are still overpricing their houses too.. well we will see what happens, it seems like this tax credit deadline is working against my favor w/ all the competition... thanks for the words of encouragement all!

Don't let the tax credit be your driving force. As much as it will be nice to get the 8K, it shouldn't be your bottom line either. If you get exactly what you want for a good price, but lose out on the 8K, IMO its worth it. if you settle just to make the 8k,you will pay for it later because you can't add a bath or an extra bedroom, or a garage, etc for the 8k. good luck!!! I stalked listingbook and mls daily as well!! Its totally normal!!

Re: frustrated with offer process

I think that its how the market is right now. There is a lot of junk houses out there so if a house is priced right there ends up being bidding wars on them.

We went through 5 bidding wars before finding our house.....just keep looking and if you find a house you like you need to put in an offer close to asking if the house means that much to you.

We put in an offer over asking on one house but we were a day late on getting the offer in and the owner had already accepted an offer and felt bad backing out of the first one.

Re: frustrated with offer process

Not the best advice- but I believe what's meant to be is meant to be. You will find your dream home when it's the right time

Re: frustrated with offer process

Wow I didn't realize there were so many buyers out there! Making me rethink selling. Im in OC.

Re: frustrated with offer process

Re: frustrated with offer process

Re: frustrated with offer process

Just remember - just because they say they have another offer doesn't mean they actually do.

I can't tell you how many times I found out, one way or another, that there was no other offer or if there was an offer it was A LOT less than the agent/owner/whoever said it was for!

A lot of it is head games.

My agent told us: you bid what the house is worth TO YOU. Not what anyone else thinks it is worth or SAYS it is worth. If they don't want to come down to your bottom line - to what it is worth to you, then it is not the right place for you.

Re: frustrated with offer process

before we bought our house we had only put an offer on one other house. we did a LOT of research on the properties and came up with a price that was worth it TO US only on houses we LOVED.

the first house we but an offer in on was a cape in stony brook listed for 399,000. it was definitely NOT going to sell for that price, we knew it, our agent knew it.. apparently the seller thought their house was worth that. we offered 350,000. they came back with 397,000 needless to say we moved on, bought our house (which we LOVE even more) and their house is still on the market.
it turns out the house belonged to an elderly man and his children had their eyes on a big cash out...

so i guess my advice is every sellers story is different but your story remains the same. you know what you can afford and what you love. do the research and study the comps and come up with an offer that works FOR YOU! and dont worry about insulting them with a low offer. we ended up buying our house for 45,000 less than the asking price. know what you want but know that you will probably have to give up something on your wish list.
and the biggest thing is DONT GET ATTACHED when you make that offer. way easier said than done but try!!

hang in there! it will be worth it!

and hi, youre a 2010 bride arent you?

Re: frustrated with offer process

Posted by Slightly-Taller

before we bought our house we had only put an offer on one other house. we did a LOT of research on the properties and came up with a price that was worth it TO US only on houses we LOVED.

the first house we but an offer in on was a cape in stony brook listed for 399,000. it was definitely NOT going to sell for that price, we knew it, our agent knew it.. apparently the seller thought their house was worth that. we offered 350,000. they came back with 397,000 needless to say we moved on, bought our house (which we LOVE even more) and their house is still on the market.
it turns out the house belonged to an elderly man and his children had their eyes on a big cash out...

so i guess my advice is every sellers story is different but your story remains the same. you know what you can afford and what you love. do the research and study the comps and come up with an offer that works FOR YOU! and dont worry about insulting them with a low offer. we ended up buying our house for 45,000 less than the asking price. know what you want but know that you will probably have to give up something on your wish list.
and the biggest thing is DONT GET ATTACHED when you make that offer. way easier said than done but try!!

hang in there! it will be worth it!

and hi, youre a 2010 bride arent you?

Re: frustrated with offer process

yes....i have been there as well....not to discourage you, but it took us over a year to find a house and we made several offers - i think we tried to buy at least 10 houses

eventually you will get something. it takes time. we took a break for about a month b/c it was becoming very stressful (especially since we were looking out of state) and we re-evaluated what we wanted in a house and realized that unless we upped our budget we were going to have to settle on some things...otherwise we would just keep getting outbid on things that were just a touch out of reach for us...

we found a townhouse we loved in an amazing community and jumped on it and we finally got our house...believe me when i tell you it is worth the stress, aggravation and the wait...and i am so thankful that the other houses we bid on didn't work out...

it will happen for you guys....there are a lot of buyers right now so it makes things a lot more competitive but after house hunting for so long i think that things do happen for a reason and have a way of working out in the end...

hang in there!